Pursuit of Pattern Languages for Societal Change - PURPLSOC Designing Lively Scenarios in Various Fields

The international PURPLSOC (In Pursuit of Pattern Languages for Societal Change) platform aims to substantiate the relevance of Christopher Alexander’s pattern language approach in all major domains by showing its broad applicability and richness and bringing best practice examples from outside the scientific community into research. This anthology of 19 papers, proceedings of the PURPLSOC 2015 World Conference held at Danube University Krems in Austria, is the first outcome of this discussion and reflection. The papers bring a manifold and broad overview of the current state of the implementation of Alexander’s ideas in divergent fields. Additionally, PURPLSOC offers a platform for the research and discussion of Alexander’s most recent work: “The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe” (2004). The four volumes explore the “living process” with its “15 structure-preserving transformations” applied in the “unfolding of wholeness”.